Live Auction 10897From Roentgen to Faberge: A European Private Collection
A SET OF TWELVE GERMAN SILVER DINNER-PLATES FROM THE HARDENBERG SERVICE
Lot 57

A SET OF TWELVE GERMAN SILVER DINNER-PLATES FROM THE HARDENBERG SERVICE

MARK OF EMMANUEL ABRAHAM DRENTWETT, AUGSBURG, CIRCA 1755-1760

Closed20 May 2015

Price Realised

GBP 22,500

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A SET OF TWELVE GERMAN SILVER DINNER-PLATES FROM THE HARDENBERG SERVICE
MARK OF EMMANUEL ABRAHAM DRENTWETT, AUGSBURG, CIRCA 1755-1760
Each shaped circular and with reeded, shell and scroll borders, later engraved with monogram 'GRIII' with Royal crown above, each marked underneath with maker's mark only, further engraved scratchweights '14 Lötig M2:8.3'; '14 Lötig M2.9.1'; '14 Lötig M.2.8.3.1'; '14 Lötig M.2.9.1'; '14 Lötig M.2.8.1.3'; '14 Lötig M.2.9.3.2'; '14 Lötig M.8.1'; '14 Lötig M.2.8.3'; '14 Lötig M.2.8-.1'; '14 Lötig M.2.10.3.-'; '14 Lötig M.2.10-.-.' and '14 Lötig M.2.10.-.3', further marked with later French tax mark

10 ¼ in. (26.5 cm.) diameter
226 oz. 2 dwt. (7,032 gr.)
The monogram is that of King George III of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover (r.1760-1820).

Friedrich Karl von Hardenberg (1696-1763).
Purchased from his sister-in-law in March 1779 by the Hanover Court.

Specialist note

These plates are part of a French and German service ordered by Friedrich Karl von Hardenberg (1696-1763). A Hanoverian courtier, he was appointed in 1741 head of the royal gardens and building department in Hanover. The service included Parisian made silver and additions were ordered during his lifetime and later by his sister-in-law in Augsburg and Hanover. The service was sold in March 1779 to the court for 7,471 reichstaler, 4 groschen, 5 pfennig. As Seelig discusses in his 2010 and 2012 articles 'The King George III Silver Service...', the plates are not marked with the Augsburg town mark but are engraved with '14 Lotig' denoting a fineness of 87.5%.